Pritzker signs bills protecting sexual assault victims
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed two bills into law Thursday aimed at protecting the victims of sexual assault.
One of those new laws allows victims to press charges, even if they were voluntarily intoxicated at the time of the attack. Another expands where survivors can access treatment and for how long, as well as requiring Federally Qualified Health Centers to provide medical forensic services by trained professionals.
“We cannot have a justice system that re-traumatizes the people who need to utilize it,” Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony in Chicago. “Yet that’s been the reality for far too long.”
House Bill 5441 closes what many people called a “loophole” in existing law that prevented victims from filing charges if they were intoxicated at the time of the attack but the intoxicating substance was not administered by the accused individual.
It inserts new language into the law that says a person is unable to knowingly give consent when intoxicated if they are “unconscious of the nature of the act, and this condition was known or reasonably should have been known by the accused,” even if the accused individual did not administer the substance.
That language was inspired by a young woman, Kaylyn Anh, who spoke at the bill signing about how she was raped by someone she knew in July 2021 after she had voluntarily become intoxicated at a friend’s house.
Three months after the attack, she said, she reported it to police but was told that they would not investigate the incident because, under Illinois law, it did not qualify as rape.
“He told me there was absolutely no way the prosecutor would ever pick up my case,” she said. “When I asked him if there were any other legal options to pursue, he said, ‘The only thing you can do now is just try to not let it happen again and move on.’ This is my defiant refusal to do so.”
Senate Bill 3023 amends the Sexual Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act, which governs the health care that hospitals are required to provide to victims of sexual assault. It doubles the amount of time a victim can access care under the act to 180 days and guarantees that victims seeking treatment will have access to a trained medical forensic examiner as well as other medical staff trained to care for victims of sexual assault.
It also authorizes the Department of Public Health to designate up to six Federally Qualified Health Centers, located in geographically diverse areas of the state, to develop sexual assault treatment plans and to offer on-site services during their regular operating hours. It also requires them to employ a sexual assault nurse examiner coordinator.
“Survivors of sexual assault need the system to work a lot better for them to seek and receive health care services as they process the trauma they’ve been through,” state Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, one of the cosponsors of the bill, said in a statement. “This measure provides a significant improvement by removing costs, bills, and increases the timeline during which survivors can access treatment.”
Both bills passed unanimously out of both chambers of the General Assembly earlier this year.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Local News
Upset Specials: De La Salle girls crowned regional champs; Meteors boys shock Marian Catholic
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It was quite a 24-hours for De La Salle’s basketball teams. And it started out wrong. So wrong. On a snowy night when some area games were canceled because of a winter storm, the Meteors’ girls squad made the trek to Burbank to take on host St. Laurence…
Area Sports Roundup: Lyons and Sandburg lead contingent of area swimmers headed to state
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer Lyons, which won state titles in boys swimming in 2016 and 2017 and took second in 2018, is bringing a huge contingent of athletes to the IHSA state meet this weekend. Lyons is sending three relay teams and individual qualifiers in four events to the event, which will…
Girls Bowling: Shepard and Stagg finish strong at first state finals
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent The new teams on the block proved they belonged. The Shepard and Stagg girls bowling teams both made it to the IHSA state finals for the first time in their programs’ histories this season, and put the icing on the proverbial cake by advancing to the tournament’s second day.…
Four Mount Carmel wrestlers win titles; Sandburg’s Zimmer, Shepard’s Reed settle for 2nd
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent CHAMPAIGN — Heavyweight wrestling matches are often slow, defensive battles, but Mount Carmel senior Ryan Boersma decided early this season he did not want to compete that way anymore. “When I was young, a freshman and sophomore, I survived off defense,” Boersma said. “That doesn’t work in college so…
Oak Lawn girls take on Kenwood tonight for Regional title
Spread the loveBy Brian Frangella Trying to win a conference championship in any sport requires the ability to overcome obstacles that may get in the way. Last year, it was the uncertainty and oddity of dealing with a global pandemic that presented challenges for the Oak Lawn Community High School girls basketball team. However, the…
Love your dogs, protect your dogs
Spread the loveBy Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. –Josh Billings Let us love them back as well. Belonging to community groups on Facebook, I see so many…
Boys swim avenges early losses for second in SSC Red
Spread the loveBy Brian Frangella After losing to both Shepard and Evergreen Park during the regular season, the Oak Lawn Community High School boys swim team knew it had its work cut out for it at the South Suburban Conference Red meet last weekend. And the Spartans were well prepared for the challenge as they…
Orland Park arrests man as an armed habitual criminal
Spread the loveFrom staff reports A Chicago man was arrested in Orland Park last week after he was stopped and a handgun was found in his waistband. Police stopped a vehicle traveling northbound in the 16900 block of LaGrange Road about 10 p.m. on Monday, February 7. The vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation…
Orland Park police arrest federal parolee with weapon
Spread the loveFrom staff reports A Calumet City man was charged last week after he refused to leave a vehicle and a loaded handgun was found on the floorboard. Orland Park tactical officers were investigating a suspicious, unoccupied vehicle in the parking lot of 304 Orland Square Drive at 3:15 p.m. on Friday, February 11.…
More renovations planned for Worth golf course
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Upgrades continue at Water’s Edge Golf Course in Worth with plans for an electronic message board to be erected on the property this year. An ordinance was approved for a license agreement with BRT Outdoor LLC concerning Water’s Edge Golf Course signage during the Worth Village Board meeting on Tuesday…
Neighbors
Corey Wolf ‘living the dream’ as new Shepard hoops coach
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent For Corey Wolf, obtaining the ultimate high school basketball prize started in the summer of 2007. Wolf was playing for a Richards team that had showed much promise, having gone 26-3 and winning a regional title the previous season. Then-Bulldogs coach John Chappetto let his players know when summer…
Staab header helps Red Stars forge draw with KC
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Heading into the weekend, only Kansas City and Orlando were unbeaten among NWSL teams. The teams were tied atop the league standings, with each sporting 8-0-4 records. They now share another common denominator: Both have forged draws with the Red Stars. Red Stars defender Sam Stabb’s header in the…
Red Stars unhappy with Riot Fest conflict
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Among the bands that will headline the newly minted Riot Fest music festival are Chicago-area natives Fall Out Boy. The annual concert featuring an eclectic mix of musical acts will be held in Bridgeview Sept. 20-22 — and boy, oh boy, there is a lot of fallout from the…
It’s about time | Illinois high school hoops gets 35-second shot clock beginning with 2026-27 season
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Count Sandburg sophomore Daniel Morakinyo as someone who can’t wait for the 2026-2027 basketball season. The rising guard/forward will be a senior that year, and he will embrace the IHSA’s implementation of a 35-second shot clock for varsity boys and girls basketball. “It’s a good feature,” Morakinyo said after…
Oak Lawn police target drivers who ignore stop signs
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Oak Lawn police are going to crack down on reckless drivers who repeatedly blow stop signs throughout the village. And police will begin enforcing those measures within the next two weeks. The subject was brought up during the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting June 11. Village Manager Tom Phelan said…
Volunteers from Brother Rice, St. Rita and St. Laurence help indigent on their final journey
Spread the loveBy Nuha Abdessalam Father Larry Sullivan, a director of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago and pastor of Christ the King Parish, joined County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and spoke words of love, respect, and God at the 35th annual committal service at Mount Olivet Cemetery. The service on June 6 at…
Riot Fest abandons Chicago park for SeatGeek Stadium
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Last year, Lyrical Lemonade moved its Summer Smash hip-hop music festival from Chicago’s Douglass Park to Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium. Thousands of fans poured into the stadium at 7100 S. Harlem Ave. over the course of three days and, by most accounts, enjoyed the experience. Summer Smash returned to SeatGeek this…
Comings & Goings: Orland Park Summerfest returns this weekend
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Back for a second go round this weekend is the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce’s Summerfest. The event combines a carnival, live music, an array of dining options and a car show, at the 153rd Street Metra Station location in Orland Park and will run from Friday, June 14,…
Repair Cafe this Saturday at Township of Lyons HQ
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Repair cafes have become quite the thing for the Township of Lyons. So much so that another repair cafe will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, June 15, at the township office, 6404 Joliet Road in Countryside. A repair café held in May was a smashing…
‘They didn’t have to kill my brother’ – sister of slain Bridgeview man
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Arturo Cantu should be celebrating two big events this weekend. He would have celebrated his 40th birthday on June 14. And, a sister said, he would have enjoyed Father’s Day on Sunday, spending time with family and his two young children. Instead, 10 family members and friends gathered in a…